


Comfort Food

by msraven



Category: The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Gen, Hurt/Comfort, Not A Fix-It, Team Bonding
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-10-02
Updated: 2012-10-02
Packaged: 2017-11-15 12:33:19
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,253
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/527359
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/msraven/pseuds/msraven
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Clint owns a diner.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Comfort Food

**Author's Note:**

> In response to a prompt at Avengerkink: <http://avengerkink.livejournal.com/11065.html?thread=23470137#t23470137>

Tony has no qualms describing himself as a genius, billionaire, playboy, philanthropist. What? It's accurate. Well...except maybe the playboy part because he has Pepper now, but it was true at one point, so yeah - genius, billionaire, playboy, philanthropist.

Tony's particularly proud of being a philanthropist. He genuinely likes helping people even if he still tends to go about it in his usual, flashy way. Stark's good at giving large sums of money to large organizations. He's not quite as comfortable personally helping others, so offering Bruce a place to stay and work was a big step for Tony. Offering the same to the remaining Avengers was easy after that. He'd been pleasantly surprised when everyone accepted.

Everyone except Clint, that is. And it was driving Tony a little nuts. Who the hell turned down an offer to have an entire floor personally designed to their specifications? Tony had even offered to build a virtual training room that would far surpass the one rumored to be at Xavier's school. But no. Every time Tony came to Clint with increasingly grander designs for his floor, the archer politely declined and said he already had a place. Stark figured he had to try harder.

Pepper put a stop to it when she found Tony designing an indoor circus setup complete with a trapeze, high wire, and animal cages. Pepper refused to budge on the no-animals-that-can-eat-you rule and suggested that Tony just talk to Clint about it. Tony agreed that lions and tigers did not make good pets and that he needed more information to solve this particular problem. But why talk when you could stalk? 

Which was how Tony found himself standing in front of a small diner in the middle of Brooklyn. He wasn't sure what he'd been expecting, but it definitely wasn't to find Clint in an apron and cooking behind the counter. Tony had just decided to leave (he didn't know how to process this information) when he was jostled by two teenagers eagerly crossing the street toward the diner.

"Sweet! He's open tonight," one of the kids said cheerfully. "You never know what you're gonna get, but it always rocks."

Tony followed them into the diner without conscious thought - his curiosity always outweighing everything else. Whatever Clint was cooking smelled amazing.

"Hey Walsh!" greeted the teenager as he rubbed his hands together. "What'cha got?"

Clint only spared a quick eye flicker towards Tony, who wisely kept his mouth shut at the foreign name.

"Shepherd's Pie and soda bread," he replied already setting down plates for the two kids before walking over and setting a similar plate in front of Tony. 

"Beer?" he asked. 

Tony nodded absently, attention focused on the food in front of him. He hadn't eaten since breakfast and almost swooned when he put the first bite in his mouth. It wasn't until after he'd gone through a second helping that Tony looked up to find Clint watching him. The kids were apparently long gone.

Before Tony could say anything to explain why he was here, a frazzled looking woman and her four sons came bustling in.

"Jason! Thank goodness you're open today. Tim! Get down off the counter this instant! Do you mind packing it to go? Ronny, Dylan! Get up off the floor."

"I've already got it ready for you," Clint replied with a smile as he picked up the youngest boy who had snuck around the counter. Barton easily balanced the toddler on one hip as he walked around with two plastic bags in one hand. Clint handed over the bags and the boy while the other three bounced around, each trying to get his attention. He waved his hand when the mother reached for her purse. "Don't worry about it. Next time you're in is fine. You've got your hands full." 

The family bustled out as quickly as they came and the diner was immediately quiet. 

"So you do this a lot?" Tony asked.

"When the mood strikes me," Clint responded with a shrug and walked back around to start cleaning. "Learned to cook in the circus and haven't been too successful scaling the recipes down, so at least the food isn't wasted."

"This is where you live?" Tony hoped Clint wouldn't take offense because, now that he was here, he could see the draw. The diner was welcoming and warm, like the worn vintage tees that Tony favored.

"Yeah," Clint replied with a small smile. "Apartment's in back."

"It's nice," Tony said sincerely. "How'd you find it?"

Tony almost kicked himself when the easy smile left the archer's face to be replaced with sorrow. Stark knew the answer before the other man replied.

"Coulson," said Clint with a sigh. "His apartment is, uh, was a few blocks away. He'd been saying that getting off base would be good for me when this place came up for sale, so he helped me with the paperwork and everything. Place technically belongs to Jason Walsh."

"Didn't mean to bring up bad memories," Tony apologized. He knew that Hawkeye had taken the agent's death much harder than everyone else.

"No! They're good memories," Clint assured him. "Coulson and I hung out here a lot. It was one of the few places we were just us, not agents, you know? It's why I can't give this place up. I appreciate what you're trying to do, but I can't...it's all I have left of him."

Clint's voice faded into a soft whisper and the sudden realization hit Tony like a freight train.

"Holy shit. Cellists use bows."

"Yeah," Clint admitted with a sad smile and looked away. It was clear that the other man didn't want to talk about it just yet.

"So...um...you got any more Guinness?" Tony asked. "I've been meaning to ask you about some upgrades to your quiver…"

Clint relaxed and grabbed them a couple more beers. The conversation flowed easier from there, interrupted periodically by other customers. Tony found himself more at ease than he had been in a long time as they talked about work and gossip and whatever came to mind. 

A week or so later, Tony walked back into the diner and found Natasha already there. Neither of the agents looked surprised to see Stark and they seamlessly included Tony in their discussion as Clint placed a large slice of lasagna in front of him. It became a habit for Tony and often Natasha to end up at the diner at least once a week. Clint's cooking _did_ rock and Tony assumed it was helping somewhat when the archer started sharing stories about Coulson with fondness instead of grief. 

Steve found them next and claimed team dynamics for the reason he'd followed Tony out of the Tower. Clint served Cap an extra large bowl of stew and asked him about the baseball game he'd been watching earlier. After that, it hadn't seemed right to leave Bruce at home when they next ventured out and the doctor had raved about Clint's vindaloo for days after. Thor was automatically included when he returned from Asgard, even if Barton had ended up making a second batch of stroganoff to tame the god's appetite.

The diner became the same safe haven for the Avengers that it had always been for Phil and Clint.

Clint's regular customers continued to come and go. Bruce commented once about the lack of reaction at seeing the gathered Avengers, but Clint and Steve had just shrugged. "It's New York."

**Author's Note:**

> If you are interested in more of the backstory, there is now a coda: [Apical Meristem](http://archiveofourown.org/works/534053)


End file.
